Three years ago, Daniel and Kelly were just beginning their off-grid journey on a rugged slice of New Zealand’s west coast. They had a house bus, a dream, and a lot of work ahead of them.
2023, House Bus
Today, their lifestyle looks very different. Their property has grown into a thriving off-grid home complete with gardens, fruit trees, chickens, rainwater collection, and a solar power system quietly running in the background.
2026, House bus
But the biggest lesson from revisiting their journey isn’t just about solar power or self-sufficiency. It’s about recognising your progress. When you’re building an off-grid life step by step, the most powerful thing you can do is stop, look around, and realise just how far you’ve come.
Off-Grid Living Doesn’t Happen Overnight
When Daniel and Kelly first moved onto their land, life was simple. Cooking often happened outside in the wind and rain. Their bathroom was squeezed inside the bus. Much of their time was spent renovating, building, and figuring things out as they went.
Like many off-grid projects, the transformation happened gradually.
They didn’t build everything at once. Instead, they tackled their property in small stages:
- Expanding the deck to create more outdoor living space
- Building an outdoor shower and separate bathroom
- Installing rainwater collection and a 25,000-litre water tank
- Planting fruit trees and shelter belts to protect the land from coastal winds
- Developing two productive vegetable gardens
This incremental approach is common for people living off-grid. Rather than taking on huge upfront costs, projects evolve naturally as time, resources, and priorities allow.
And with each step, life becomes a little more comfortable.
Small Improvements Create a Big Lifestyle Shift
Looking around their property today, Daniel describes their life as “more luxurious”-a word that might surprise people who assume off-grid living means sacrifice.
But luxury doesn’t always mean more things, or Flash things. Often, it means more comfort and freedom. Cooking indoors on cold winter days, relaxing on a covered deck with nature views, or enjoying an outdoor shower surrounded by nature. These simple upgrades have transformed daily life.
Their outdoor living space now acts as an extension of the small bus interior, creating a home that feels much larger than its footprint. And with a baby on the way, those thoughtful improvements are becoming even more meaningful.
Growing Food and Living Simply
Another big shift over the past three years has been their garden. Seeing the first garden Daniel planted slowly degrade, he made the hard choice to move his garden to their lawn - in front of the bus.
Today they harvest:
- Fresh vegetables from a no-dig garden
- Eggs from their chickens
- Fruit from young orchard trees
- Meat stored in the freezer
- Homemade bread and preserved foods
The result is dramatically lower grocery bills and a stronger sense of independence.
Their garden design keeps things simple. Instead of intensive gardening methods, Daniel uses cardboard, compost, and woodchip mulch to build soil and suppress weeds. It’s a low-maintenance approach that produces impressive yields while leaving plenty of time to enjoy the lifestyle.
And when the garden produces too much food—as it often does—they swap produce with neighbours in their nearby town.
What Off-Grid Living Really Means
For Daniel and Kelly, off-grid living isn’t about disconnecting from society. It’s about freedom. Freedom to spend more time outdoors, Freedom to work less and live more intentionally, Freedom from many of the bills and financial pressures that come with conventional housing.
Without a mortgage and with very few monthly expenses, they’ve been able to reshape their working lives.
Instead of traditional careers dominating their time, work and life now blend together naturally. A morning surf, tending the garden, running their business, and building projects all coexist in a way that feels balanced. Their days are busy, but they’re busy doing things they actually want to do.
Reliable Solar Power Makes Off-Grid Living Easy
One of the biggest concerns many people have about off-grid living is electricity.
Will there be enough power?
Is it difficult to manage?
What happens if something breaks?
For Daniel, the reality has been far simpler than expected. His solar power system has quietly powered their home for three years without needing constant attention. In fact, he rarely even opens the cabinet where the system is installed.
The solar panels generate power automatically, the battery stores it, and the system simply works. That simplicity is one of the biggest benefits of a well-designed solar setup.
Why Choosing a Reputable Solar Company Matters
Daniel also points out an important consideration for anyone planning an off-grid system. You can buy individual solar components from various suppliers and assemble your own system, but support can become difficult if something goes wrong.
When he needed advice while relocating part of his system, he reached out for help. Even though his solar kit had been installed years earlier, the support team were still available to talk things through and provide guidance.
That kind of ongoing support can make a huge difference for people who are new to off-grid energy systems. You can buy the equipment, but having the experts a phone call away is the cherry on top.
The Financial Case for Off-Grid Solar
Connecting to the grid wasn’t even an option worth pursuing for this property. Although power lines run nearby, getting connected would have been expensive. Early estimates suggested costs around $20,000 just to bring electricity to the property.
By comparison, investing in solar power meant they could generate their own electricity and avoid ongoing power bills entirely.
Over time, that decision has contributed to a much simpler financial life. Their mailbox rarely contains bills—something many off-grid homeowners quickly grow to appreciate.
Building an Off-Grid Life Step by Step
Perhaps the most valuable takeaway from Daniel and Kelly’s journey is this: You don’t have to build the perfect off-grid setup all at once.
Many people assume they need to solve everything before they start-power, water, food production, housing, infrastructure.
But their experience shows the opposite. They started with the basics:
- A house bus
- Land
- Solar power
- A willingness to learn and build as they went
- Everything else has grown from there.
- Progress happens one project at a time.
Don’t Forget to Celebrate the Journey
When you’re constantly building, improving, and working toward the next goal, it’s easy to overlook the progress already made. But standing back after three years, the transformation is undeniable.
A bare piece of land has become a thriving off-grid home. Solar power runs quietly in the background, the garden feeds them, and the ocean is just down the road.
And the life they’ve built feels, in many ways, richer than the one they left behind. As Daniel puts it, they may not have huge amounts of cash—but they feel incredibly wealthy.
Sometimes the most important step in an off-grid journey is simply recognising how far you’ve already come.